Colby says US nuclear strategy aimed at deterring use of nuclear weapons

U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby attends a forum in Manila, Philippines, Aug. 10. AP-Yonhap

A senior Pentagon official on Thursday said the United States' new nuclear strategy currently under review is not aimed at highlighting the possible use of theater-range nuclear weapons but at deterring possible use of nuclear weapons by others by setting up a clear threshold.

Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby made the remarks amid reports that the Pentagon is drafting a new nuclear strategy with a focus on the use of shorter-range tactical weapons in case of regional conflicts.

"Obviously, the goal here, I stress, is to maintain deterrence and stability rather than to exacerbate it. One thing I would like to specifically clarify is that we are not seeking to accentuate or increase the focus on theater-range nuclear weapons," Colby said during a virtual press briefing with reporters Thursday.

"Our view is that the more important elements about nuclear weapons, God forbid they were ever used, would be crossing of the nuclear threshold itself, as well as the effect it might have," he added.

Colby explained the review is also aimed at making sure that "the potential employment of military force at great scale, including nuclear weapons, would be rational and correlated with the interests at stake for the United States of America."

"And this, of course, has multiple ramifications, obviously, (for) our focus on denial," he said.

Colby noted the U.S. military used to be "sized and shaped" to conduct regime change operations, stressing that the ongoing review was not aimed toward that end.

"That is not what we are sizing and shaping. We are shaping for a defensive function of denial," said the U.S. official.

"We don't anticipate radical changes. Really, what we are looking at is making sure that the nuclear strategy, just as the conventional strategy that we have, is fit for purpose for the time and the strategic context in which we are, in which we find ourselves," he added.